


The Light of Infection

by AmberstarTheCat



Series: The Light of Infection [1]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Grimm is an overprotective dad, Grimmchild is named Elio, I have no clue where this is going, Modern AU, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, PK is a bad father, Rating May Change, THK needs hugs and probably therapy, THK uses they/them pronouns, The Knight is Called Ghost (Hollow Knight), probably inconsistant updates, the Infection behaves more like a zombie virus than what's probably canon, zombie apocalypse AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:14:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26271694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmberstarTheCat/pseuds/AmberstarTheCat
Summary: A strange infection has swept the world, turning its victims into mindless zombies. Many attempts to find a cure were made, but none were successful. But a miracle seemed to occur, as the leader of the nation of Hallownest proclaimed that he was working on a cure that was sure to work. However, when the cure was supposedly nearing its completion, the bug and all traces of his attempts and experiments seemingly vanished into thin air, leaving the world to its fate. Now bugs struggle to survive in abandoned towns and zombie-infested wastelands,  living off of whatever they can find.A bug named Grimm lives in an abandoned house, trying to keep himself and his young son alive. One day, he stumbles across a mysterious bug leaking infection from gruesome wounds. He rescues the bug, and finds himself dragged into something bigger than he ever could have imagined.(aka, GrimmxTHK but in a zombie apocalypse because what brings bugs closer together than hordes of zombies!)
Relationships: Grimm & Grimmchild (Hollow Knight), Grimm & The Hollow Knight | Pure Vessel, Grimm/The Hollow Knight | Pure Vessel
Series: The Light of Infection [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1934032
Comments: 21
Kudos: 41





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So uh, first fic I've ever published. It's probably gonna suck, I'm not too good at writing, but hopefully people like it. I can't guarantee a consistant or quick update schedule, the speed of updates depends on how easily I'm able to write a chapter and how often I work on it. Rating is teen and up for now, but there's a good chance it could get bumped up to mature at some point.

The tall bug growled as he pulled out his gun and shot the staggering bug chasing him, grimacing as bright orange gunk splattered onto his wings and already dirty red shirt. Grimm shot the bug one more time to make sure it was dead, before scowling and wiping himself off. He glared at the corpse, silently daring it to move, before turning around and swiftly moving on. He felt a drop of water hit his head, and looked up to see rainclouds forming, making him groan. He hated getting wet, and it looked like it was about to start pouring. He adjusted the backpack he was wearing and started walking faster, hoping to make it back to where he had been staying before the downpour started.

Unfortunately, he didn't make it, and he walked into the abandoned house soaking wet. He groaned and sat the backpack down before grabbing the dirty towel he kept by the door and drying himself off. He picked the backpack up and walked into the kitchen, putting it onto the scuffed, cracked countertop. He opened it up and started pulling the contents out, setting things in cupboards. He left out a bottle of water and a couple of outdated granola bars, opening the bottle and thirstily drinking from it when everything was put away. He closed the bottle back when he was finished and set it on the counter, grabbing the granola bars and heading up the stairs.

He knocked on a bedroom door before opening it, frowning as he saw the bug still staring at the wall. He quickly made sure his gun was loaded and ready in case something suddenly went wrong, before walking up to the bug. Grimm felt pity for them as he caught a glimpse of the bandages around their chest, arm, and head. He sat one of the granola bars next to the bug before opening the other and taking a bite, frowning at the stale taste. "You really ought to eat, you know," he said, swallowing the mouthful and taking another bite. He sighed as the bug didn't do anything but kept staring. That was all they really did, ever since he had found them.

* * *

_Grimm stared at the bug in front of him, who was laying nearly motionless as orange liquid oozed from the wounds on their body, staining their filthy shirt. The color immediately made him wary of the bug, especially when he noticed their faint breathing. He walked up to them cautiously, a fireball in hand to quickly kill them, but stopped when they didn't seem to react. His first instinct was that they were blind, and he lightly tapped them with a foot, but they strangely still didn't seem to react._

_He looked at their eyes, frowning at the lack of the orange glow that showed in the eyes of infected. He felt confusion, then noticed the large crack in the bug's head, one that ran from above their left eye into their right, dripping orange. He noticed the fact that the bug was missing a limb, and was bleeding orange from both the stump and a large gash in their chest._

_He wondered if the bug was already infected, and just wasn't showing signs yet. He considered shooting the bug. It would not only just mercifully put them out of their misery, but it would mean less infected to deal with later as well. It would have been the smarter and most certainly the safer and less risky option. But he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Something inside of him was screaming at him to help the poor thing._

_He told himself that he shouldn't do that, he didn't have many medical supplies as it was, not to mention the danger of the bug attacking him. But something about the bug made him want to save them, and he found himself getting closer. He reached for the bug to pick them up, and he noticed them flinch ever so slightly. He stopped and pulled away, a little surprised at the reaction._

_"Hey, it's okay. I just want to try to help you," he murmured gently. The bug didn't say or do anything, and he started to reach for them again, gently picking them up. They were surprisingly light for their size, it didn't take much effort to lift and carry them. He frowned as he felt them tense slightly. "It's okay," he repeated, "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to take you back to where I stay, alright?" he murmured, trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling of the orange fluid slowly dripping onto him. The bug still didn't respond, and he sighed before walking home._

* * *

He frowned as he thought about how strange it was that the bug hardly expressed themselves, the most they ever did was either slightly flinch, stiffen, occasionally tremble, or rarely make some other barely noticeable movement. He looked at them as he finished his granola bar, before getting ready to walk out. "I'll be right back, I should change those bandages now."

He walked out and quietly closed the door, before walking to the bedroom he stayed in. The moment he opened the door he was nearly knocked over as his son, a small grub with a head very similar to his, slammed into him. Grimm chuckled and held the young bug, stroking his horns. The little bug glared up at him and let out an unhappy mewl, and he ran his hand along his son's back. "I know you don't like being left in there alone, but I don't want you to run off while I'm out. It's far too dangerous for you out there, little one."

His son mewled again and curled up in his arms, and he let out another soft chuckle. "I'm afraid you're going to have to get up, I can't hold you right now." The bug stared up at him for a minute, before laying his head down and closing his eyes defiantly. He sighed and walked over to the bed, carefully setting his son down onto the ragged sheets. The bug looked at him with a discontented _nyah_ , and he frowned softly. "I'll hold you later, I have other things to do right now," he said.

Grimm started walking over to where he kept his medical supplies, but stopped in front of the broken, dirty mirror that was in the room. He grimaced at the orange stains covering his clothes and wings. There wasn't much he could do about them though. The most he could do was try to find some less stained clothing the next time he went out, but it would be hard to find clothes that fit him properly because of how slender he was.

He frowned before grabbing his first aid kit and walking out of the room, his son immediately getting off of the bed and following him. He walked back to the room the injured bug was in, noting with satisfaction that the granola bar had been opened and a bite seemed to be taken out of it, but clearly had been rewrapped in an attempt to make it look like it hadn't been. He wondered why, but he was glad that the bug had at least eaten a little bit. His son immediately flew to the granola bar and looked like he was about to eat it.

"No, Elio, that's not yours. I'll get you something to eat after I finish redoing these bandages, alright?"

The younger bug pouted and flew away from the bar, landing on the ground next to the bed. Grimm frowned before walking up to the bandaged bug on the bed. He set the first aid kit down and pulled out a roll of bandages, scowling at how empty the kit was. He hadn't had any luck with finding medical supplies his last trip, meaning he'd have to go back out once the rain stopped.

He reached forward to remove the bandage on the bug's head, and felt them flinch ever so slightly. "It's okay, I'm just removing this so I can put a fresh bandage on," he murmured soothingly. He slowly unwrapped the bandage, frowning at the large crack. He had no idea what had led to the mask-like head getting damaged like that, but it couldn't have been a pleasant experience. The good thing was that barely any orange dripped from it, so it was clearly getting better. He carefully waved a hand in front of the bug's right eye, then the left. He noticed a slight flinch when he moved in front of the left eye, but not the right, and realized his suspicions were probably true. The bug was half-blind.

He set the old bandage aside and put a fresh one on, before moving to the bug's chest. He started to unwrap the bandage there, but winced when he felt a slightly more noticeable flinch. "Sorry, but this has to be done," he apologized. He finished unraveling the bandage and set it next to the other. Orange liquid still oozed from the gash, mingling with a pitch-black liquid that seemed to be the bug's blood. "That doesn't seem to be getting much better…" he muttered. The orange fluid wasn't leaking as much as it had been when he first found the bug, which was good, but the wound didn't seem to be getting better.

He reached for some antibiotic cream to put on the wound, but as soon as he tried to get some out he realized that there was barely anything left. "Ugh, damnit," he muttered, before putting what little bit of the cream he could onto the wound. "I'm going to have to rebandage that wound again today, it needs more than what I put on it." He grimaced as he realized he was going to have to go out in the rain. Maybe he could find a half-decent raincoat laying somewhere.

Soon the bug's wounds all had fresh bandages on them. He frowned as he put the bandages back. "I'm going to have to go back out in a little bit to look for more medical supplies," he said to nobody in particular. His son immediately flew towards him and looked at him pleadingly. " _No,_ you're not going too, Elio. You're too young to be out there, it's far too dangerous. You're going to stay here, where it's safe."

The little grub let out a defiant _nyeh_ , clinging to Grimm as he put the first aid kit back and walked to the kitchen. He pried his son off of him and set him on the counter, before reaching into a cupboard and pulling out another bar. He unwrapped it and held it in front of Elio, who immediately grabbed it with his wings and started eating it. He smiled and pet his son, the bug purring at touch.

Soon Grimm was carrying his son back up to the bedroom, much to the younger bug's displeasure. "Elio, I don't trust you to not run off while I'm out, and I don't want you to get hurt. You're _staying_ in the bedroom," he said. He got into the room and tried to set his son down, but the grub immediately wrapped his wings around his arm and wouldn't let go. " _Elio_ ," he said firmly, but the bug just kept clinging to him with a defiant _nyah_ of protest.

He sighed and started trying to pry the grub off, and soon the bug was on the bed. "You're staying here until I get back." He turned around and shut the door, before going back downstairs. He grabbed the backpack off the counter and tossed his water bottle in it as well as spare ammo for his gun and walked out of the house, making sure to shut the door.

Unfortunately, he forgot to lock the bedroom door, and soon after he had left, a young grub slipped out and flew off to find him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grimm's supply run doesn't quite go as planned

Grimm grimaced as he felt the rain soak his clothes, making him extremely uncomfortable. He kept his gun in his hand, though he hoped he wouldn't have to use it. He was a bit further than he usually went from home, but he had to find medical supplies, and he was having no luck where he usually scavenged. He carefully walked through the abandoned town, doing his best to avoid the infected wandering around in the rainy gloom. He tensed and gripped his weapon tighter every time he had to sneak closely by a husk, prepared to either attack or flee if a pair of glowing orange eyes looked at him.

Soon he saw a building in the distance. He walked closer and saw that it had been a pharmacy at some point. He immediately started heading for it as fast as he was willing to go, hoping that he would have good luck and it wouldn't have already been raided. He managed to get to it without attracting much attention, thankfully, and sprinted inside. He let out a soft sigh of relief at finally being out of the rain, before carefully shaking his soaked wings in an attempt to dry them off a little.

Grimm looked around at the building, frowning at how dark it was. He made sure there were no infected nearby outside the pharmacy before digging around in his backpack for the flashlight he brought with him. He turned it on, having to smack it to get it to stop flickering as much. He started walking, going through the aisles of the abandoned building. He mentally went through the list of everything he needed to try to find, hoping he wouldn't forget something because it wasn't as simple as a quick walk to get to the building from home.

He frowned as he searched for antibiotic cream, something he absolutely  _ had  _ to find. He rummaged through shelf after shelf, occasionally tossing something into the backpack when he came across an item he needed. He growled in frustration as he kept searching, but just couldn't find the right item. Before long he finally found it, heaving a sigh of relief. He was afraid he wouldn't find any, and he tossed the cream into the backpack with a satisfied look.

He looked through the shelves he hadn't gotten to yet, managing to find the last things he needed. Grimm couldn't believe that he had been lucky enough to get everything he was looking for, he almost thought he was dreaming. He turned off his flashlight and put it back into the backpack, then cautiously walked out of the store.

He scowled at the still pouring rain but started walking, hoping that he could find other supplies too. He needed to head home soon, but spending a little extra time looking around could be worth it. He soon came across another abandoned store, this time one that appeared to be a grocery store, and went inside. He got his flashlight back out and started looking around. When he was last out he hadn't found much of anything that would make a decent meal, mostly just old snack food. He hoped he'd have better luck here.

He grimaced as he walked past a produce section, trying to ignore the smell of rotten fruit. He wished he could eat fruit again, but unless he somehow found fruit growing wild he would have to go without. All the fruit he could find now was rotten and inedible. He was about to turn down an aisle, when he thought he heard something behind him. He whipped around and pulled out his gun, tense and ready to shoot if any infected showed themselves.

He thought he saw movement and pointed his gun at it, growling softly. "Who's there? Come out now or I'll shoot!" He saw more movement and was about to shoot, when something flew at him. His eyes widened and he ducked out of the way, the object landing with a splat behind him. A quick glance revealed it to be a piece of fruit. He frowned and looked back in the direction the projectile had come from, narrowing his eyes. "Do you think a rotten peach is going to hurt me?"

He was about to shoot when he heard a voice on his left. "Drop the gun."

Grimm turned his head and saw a bug glaring at him. They looked like a spider, but their head was more mask-like than any spider he's ever seen. It was similar to the head of the bug he was looking after, especially the round black eyes. He also could only see four limbs, two arms and two legs, as opposed to the eight limbs spiders typically had, although the missing limbs could have been hidden under their clothes.

The spider growled softly at him. "I  _ said,  _ drop the gun," the bug said with a feminine-sounding voice. He turned and stared at her for a minute, before glancing around. He  _ could _ try to run and hide behind one of the old displays in the store, but the spider would probably hit him if she shot soon enough. He could try attacking her, but he didn't want to risk attracting any infected with the sound of the gunshot. The spider also could shoot him before he could get a fireball ready to throw at her, and he wasn't sure how well punching her would go. He sighed and started to put his gun away, hoping that he could get away with doing so so that he could still easily defend himself. It didn't work, as the spider acted like she was about to shoot. "I said  _ drop _ it."

With a scowl he set it on the ground, not wanting to take such a big risk, especially since his son wouldn't be able to fend for himself if he died. He narrowed his eyes as the bug in front of him looked him over. She noticed his backpack and frowned. "What's in the bag?" she growled, gesturing to the backpack while still pointing the gun at him.

"Why do you need to know?" he asked irritably, crossing his arms.

"Answer the question."

"I'm not going to unless-"

"Answer or I'll look in the damn bag myself."

He growled and gripped his backpack tightly. "Supplies. There, are you happy now? What the hell do you want from me?"

Before the spider could answer, they both heard a snarling noise and looked over, seeing an infected bug heading towards them. Grimm was about to try to throw a fireball at it, but the spider quickly aimed her gun and shot the bug in the head, killing it. His eyes widened as he realized what happened, and he snapped his head around to look at the spider. "Why the hell did you do that!? You might've just attracted more of them!"

"Oh,  _ please _ . Their hearing isn't that good, any that are outside more than likely wouldn't have heard that, and I haven't seen any others in here. Anyways..." Grimm looked over the spider's shoulder and saw two orange dots in the gloom, and he snarled as he threw a fireball at it, much to the spider's confusion. "What the-"

"I fucking  _ told _ you! You attracted more of them because of that gunshot, you idiot!" The bug in front of him turned around and stared in shock at the burnt corpse of the husk, then they saw several more infected, all attracted by the gunshot.

" _ Fuck _ ," he muttered, while the bug next to him gripped her gun tightly.

* * *

Elio hissed softly as he flew through the rain, hating how uncomfortable it made him. He hated rain just as much as his father, but he was willing to cope with it if it meant going with the older bug. He couldn't believe his father wouldn't let him come with him, even though he clearly could take care of himself! He hoped that if he found his father, he'd prove to him that he's strong enough to take care of himself. He shouldn't even  _ have _ to prove himself, but it was the only way his father would let him go with him.

He soon came to another abandoned town similar to the one he lived in, but larger. He saw a couple of bugs wandering around in the dreary gloom, but he knew something was off about them and avoided them. He flew around the town, avoiding the bugs and keeping an eye out for his father, squinting to see through the rain. Soon, he heard a gunshot and perked up. That had to be his father. He zipped off towards the sound, and found his father standing over a dead bug, holding a gun.

He let out a happy  _ nyah _ and started flying towards his father, who turned around at the sound and stared in shock. "Elio!? I told you to stay at home! How did you get out!?" his father said, much to Elio's disappointment. He thought his father would be amazed that he had found him without getting hurt, and would see that he could take care of himself. Then he realized his father might not know that he was perfectly fine. That had to be it! He flew towards the older bug, intending to show him that he was perfectly fine, when something slammed into him and knocked him over. The bug that had hit him pinned him down, and in his panic he didn't think to attack.

* * *

Grimm watched in horror as a visibly infected husk knocked over his son and pinned him down, the little grub thrashing around wildly. This was the exact reason he wouldn't let his son out of the house, the young bug wouldn't be careful or pay attention to his surroundings. He was snapped out of his shock by his son crying for help and ran over. He didn't dare shoot the husk while they were so close to his thrashing son, so he had to knock them away before killing them.

He ran up to the husk and shoved it off of the struggling grub, fighting back a disgusted noise as orange goop splattered onto him. The husk staggered back, then screeched and ran for him instead. He raised his gun to shoot, but the husk shoved him down, the gun getting knocked out of his hand before he could react. He struggled as the husk pinned him down, gritting his teeth as he felt their claws dig into his arms. A very faint glow emitted from the sickeningly orange pustules of infection covering the husk's body, and he grimaced as he felt orange liquid drip onto his chest.

He snarled and shoved his knee sharply into the husk's stomach, then shoved his body upwards to knock them off while they were stunned. He felt more goop splatter onto him, but he didn't give it much thought, even as it slowly dripped into some of the scratches on his arms. He grabbed his gun off the ground and aimed it directly at the husk, shooting them in the head. He then ran over to where his son was cowering on the ground and picked him up, checking to see if the young bug had gotten hurt. He didn't see any visible injuries, then held his trembling son close as he comforted them. "It's okay, little one, I'm here. You're not hurt, are you?" he asked, worried that maybe his son was injured and he couldn't see it.

He heaved a sigh of relief when Elio slowly shook his head no, the grub whimpering and pressing into him. He hugged his son tightly before frowning at him. "This is why I don't want you leaving the house. You could have been injured, infected, or even killed! I don't want to lose you, Elio, I wanted you to stay behind because then I'd know you'd be safe. You need to  _ listen _ to me next time," he scolded. His son mewled softly and headbutted him gently, before shakily curling up in his arms. "Elio, I can't hold you right now, I need to have my arms free."

Grimm tried to get Elio to fly, but the grub refused to, and with an exasperated sigh he shifted his son to one arm while he held his gun in the other hand. He turned to leave when he heard footsteps behind him. "Where do you think  _ you're  _ going?" He glanced over his shoulder to see the spider from earlier glaring at him.

"Why does it matter to you?" he asked, wrapping his arm protectively around Elio.

The spider scowled at him. "I'm not through with you. Before we were attacked I-"

"And who's fault is that, hmm? I don't have to do anything you say, so don't expect me to stay here just because you told me to. And just a word of advice, be more  _ cautious _ when you shoot in an area with infected, you fucking idiot." Before the spider could respond, he walked off, keeping an eye out for infected as he headed home. The spider tried to get him to turn around, but he ignored her, wanting to get out of the rain and get his son to safety as soon as he could.

* * *

Hornet watched as the bug walked off, carrying a similar-looking grub in one arm. She frowned as she remembered the fireball that the bug had thrown in the abandoned grocery store. It wasn't very common to find a bug that could use magic, even before the infection. She narrowed her eyes, deciding to follow the bug to hopefully find out more about him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second chapter! I'm not entirely certain if any of the characters actually seem in character, so if they aren't some tips on writing them would be appreciated. I'm not the best at keeping characters in character


End file.
